The Cats have quietly been one of the most successful teams at the AFL draft since its inception, building and maintaining a strong list that has helped them remain competitive over the past two decades.

Despite their well renowned success during the trade period, Geelong has also found a number of champion players in the draft anywhere from their top picks to later selections.

The Cats enter the 2023 draft with pick eight as their first selection, just their 15th pick inside the top ten since the National draft was introduced back in 1986.

The most notable period of top ten selections for Geelong came in a golden era from 1999 to 2006, which helped to establish a dynasty that led to four premierships coming home to Kardinia Park.

The first was in the 1999 draft, with the Cats selecting tough nut Joel Corey from East Perth with pick eight.

Corey went on to feature across 14 seasons and 276 games with Geelong, playing a vital role through the midfield in the three premierships between 2007 and 2011.

The tough Cat also won two Carji Greeves medals during his time at the club, while earning a pair of All-Australian selections in 2007 and 2008.

The next top ten selection came two years later when the Cats used another eighth pick to draft Jimmy Bartel from the Geelong Falcons.

Bartel built a legacy as one of the greatest players to don the blue and white hoops, winning the 2007 Brownlow and the 2011 Norm Smith Medal while becoming a three time premiership player.

The superstar played 305 games for Geelong, earning two All-Australian selections while maintaining his status as one of the competition’s top on-ballers for the majority of his career.

Geelong used pick seven in the 2002 draft to select Andrew Mackie from Glenelg, their third consecutive top ten pick that turned into a club champion.

Mackie played 280 games for the Cats becoming another vital part of the three premierships from 2007 to 2011, while also earning All-Australian honours during his career.

After a few years out of the top ten, Geelong made perhaps their greatest selection of all when they drafted Joel Selwood from the Bendigo Pioneers with pick seven in 2006.

Selwood’s legacy speaks for itself; Club games record holder, longest serving captain in AFL history, four time premiership player, six All-Australian selections and three Carji Greeves Medals sit amongst a host of other accolades across his 355 game career.

Incredibly it was a draft steal for the Cats in 2006, with Selwood sliding to pick seven because other teams held concerns around the durability of his knee.

Fast forward to 2022 and the Cats found themselves with just their second top ten pick in the last 16 years, selecting talented young gun Jhye Clark with pick eight.

Scratching the surface in 2023, Clark showed plenty of his potential through the VFL and during his AFL debut, with an exciting career awaiting the young Cat.

Geelong will enter this year with their second consecutive top ten pick, the first time this has occurred in 20 years dating back to the 2002 and 2003 drafts.  

1980’s

Pick 5 - Michael Taylor (1986)

Pick 8 - Darren Jones (1987)

Pick 6 - Ray Sterrett (1988)

1990’s

Pick 1 - Stephen Hooper (1990)

Pick 5 - Stewart Devlin (1990)

Pick 9 - Stephen O’Reilly (1991)

Pick 8 - Leigh Brockman (1996)

Pick 8 - Joel Corey (1999)

2000’s

Pick 8 - Jimmy Bartel (2001)

Pick 7 - Andrew Mackie (2002)

Pick 7 - Kane Tenace (2003)

Pick 7 - Joel Selwood (2006)

Pick 10 - Nakia Cockatoo (2014)

Pick 8 - Jhye Clark (2022)